Acetone

Endpoint summary

Additional information

Acetone is a colourless liquid with mildly pungent, somewhat aromatic odour. The melting point of acetone is -94.7°C (range: -94.6°C to – 95.6°C), the boiling point is 56.05°C (range: 56.05 to – 56.5°C). The relative density of acetone at 20°C is 0.79. According to REACH Regulation (Annex VII 7.14. Column 2), the study on granulometry does not need to be conducted if the the substance is marketed or used in a non solid or non granular form. Under standard conditions, acetone is a liquid.The vapour pressure of acetone is recorded to be 240 hPa at 20 °C (range: 233 to 247 hPa at 20°C). The partition coefficient of acetone is - 0.24 (range: - 0.23 to - 0.27). One reported value of 0.24 is assumed to be a printing error. This is in accordance with the fact that acetone is miscible with water in all proportions. Acetone is also miscible in all proportions with polar organic solvents, such as the lower molecular mass alcohols, carboxylic acids, and ethers. It is miscible in limited proportions with non-polar solvents, such as hydrocarbons. According to REACH Regulation (Annex 7.6, column II), the study on surface tension has only to be done if based on the structure surface-active properties are to be expected. Acetone does not contain any chemical groups indicating surface-active properties. The surface tension of pure acetone at 20°C is 23.3 mN/m. The flash point of acetone is determined by the closed cup method for – 17 °C (range: – 17°C to -20 °C), therefore acetone is regarded as a highly flammable liquid. The self-ignition temperature of acetone is 465 °C (range: 465 °C – 540 °C). According to REACH Regulation (Annex XI, 1.), a study does not need to be done if based on the available data the substance can be classified, labelled and/or the risk of the substance can be assessed. Acetone is a liquid at room temperature. For liquids the primary value for ease of ignition is the flash point. Moreover, the experience in the use and testing for other REACH endpoints showed that the substance does not ignite spontaneously in air or react violently with water and therefore testing according to EC Methods A.12 and A.13 is not scientifically necessary. The lower flammability limit of gaseous acetone in air is 2.13 % (range: 2.13 to 2.6%), the upper flammability limit is 13% (range: 12.8 to 13%).

According to REACH Regulation (Annex 7.11, column II), the study on explosiveness does not need to be done if the substance does not contain chemical groups indicating explosive properties. Acetone does not contain any functional groups indicating explosive properties.

Pure acetone is essentially inert to air oxidation and to diffuse sunlight under ambient conditions. Its chemical stability diminishes significantly in the presence of water. Acetone is reported to be stable to many of the usual oxidants, but it is sensitive to the stronger oxidizing agents. Therefore acetone itself is not regarded as an oxidising agent. According to REACH Regulation (Annex IX 7.15, column 1), a study on stability in organic solvents does not need to be conducted as the stability of acetone is not considered to be critical. Acetone as an organic solvent is miscible with most of the polar organic solvents and to a limited degree to non-polar solvents. Therefore as a weight of evidence acetone is regarded as stable in most organic solvents. The dissociation constant pKa of acetone is reported to be 24.2 at 25 °C, which is in accordance with the chemical structure of acetone as organic ketone with one functional carbonyl group. The dynamic viscosity of acetone at 20 °C is 0.32 mPa s.